Russell Wilson fires back at notion that he’s “lost” the Denver locker room

The Broncos were punching back on Wednesday.

First, it was head coach Nathaniel Hackett saying NFL Network reports that QB Russell Wilson has lost the Denver locker room were “gossip.”

Then, the QB himself took the podium, and was asked directly about it. A video show / podcast featuring league insiders Tom Pelissero and Mike Garafolo discussed the Broncos for a chunk of it, including Pelissero saying Wilson had “lost” his teammates.

“No,” Wilson said of losing the guys. “First of all, everybody wants to win. We all want to win. And nobody wants to win more than me and this team and what we want to be able to do. I mean, I’ve got great relationships in that locker room. So, whoever is trying to tear it down, you can’t.”

That’s a candid response from Wilson, who’s normally full of cliches. He basically told the national reporters they don’t know what they’re talking about. It could be a good poker face from Wilson, but he certainly seemed believable with his fire and passion on the subject.

“We’ve got great players. I’m honored to be here and play with these guys. There’s always noise, especially when things aren’t going the way that you want it to. You don’t bat an eye. My biggest goal every day is to try to lead at the highest level and to be consistent with my approach,” Wilson said.

While a lot of that noise is around Wilson, a ton of it is falling on Hackett as well. The first-year head coach has been a major disappointment, and could be fired during this season or right after it. For what it’s worth, Wilson has his back.

“I believe in coach Hackett and think this team does too. Obviously, we all want to be with a better record right now and it’s on all of us. It starts with us players, we’ve got to better. In terms of coach Hackett, we all love him” Wilson said.

That could just be lip service, but it would have been easy for Wilson to dodge the question. Instead, he offered an endorsement. Will that help Hackett survive? We’ll see. But the Broncos were saying all the right things on Wednesday.

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